Megan Heath

We're a pretty low-key group of folks here at Balihoo, and there's little in the day-to-day that causes contention.  Among the would-be controversial elements in the office is my quasi-inflammatory desk calendar: Stuff White People Like. 

If you haven't read this blog, you're missing out.  If you think the content is more inappropriate than funny, you might consider lightening up.  But I digress.

Inspired by my environment and a daily dose of SWPL, I've compiled the first unofficial list of Stuff Marketing People Like.

Jargon: If you hear someone at a party trying desperately to work the words "mechanicals," "reach and frequency," or "channel marketing" into a conversation, you can be confident that they're with an agency.  If you hear them say "co-op marketing solution," "ad builder software," or "local marketing readiness," they're with Balihoo.

PowerPoint: With gifted designers and creative producers at their disposal, you'd expect marketing pros to have a better presentation format than PowerPoint.  Check those expectations - we love us some branded slide decks.

Ridiculous Competitions: Mustache May... enough said.

Having Better Clients Than You: We're really blessed to work with innovative brands like Kohler, Specialized, and Chevron.  That's not name dropping; I really mean it.

Being a Mac or a PC: It's not just about picking sides and talking trash.  It's about having an identity: you're either a smart, efficient Account Manager or an edgy, nonchalant Creative Designer.  The rest of the agency is slightly irrelevant, but encouraged to join the debate none the less.

Adult Beverages: Beer isn't just a drink, it's an attitude.  We have plenty of both.

Big Budgets: You have a million dollars and an ambiguous goal?  Please join me in front of my PC for a PowerPoint presentation on how I can triple your reach & frequency.  Can I get you a beer?

Small Budgets: Big budgets are for kids and execs.  A hardcore marketer loves a small budget, an awkward, disjointed market, and an impossible deadline.  This is where heroes and ulcers are made.

Seeing Their Own Work: Back in my media buying days, I got a real kick out of seeing and hearing my clients' ads.  And if you think that box under my desk is full of old betas and newspapers, well, you're right.  Just dying to see some old dental commercials and smoothie ads?  I thought you might be.

Logos: It's not vanity.  But the metal is just shiny enough to see your own reflection among the many, many client icons.

In addition to ad builder software, local advertising, and co-op marketing, Balihoo folks share a passion for the great outdoors.  Likewise, a commitment to the environment is core to Balihoo culture.

Here are a few of our Earth-friendly practices:

1. Reduce: No employee is without a glass, metal, or recyclable plastic water bottle, and a fully-stocked kitchen ensures that disposable utensils are a rarity.
2. Reuse: Following the remodel of our current office space in 2009, Balihoo received a Building Excellence Award for our "Green Upgrade."  Original wood paneling, electric wiring, 2" x 4"s, doors, and more were re-purposed throughout the office to limit waste.
3. Recycle: Several months of insistence finally prompted our building to implement a recycling program, to which we are the largest contributor.
4. Walk and ride: A central downtown location affords Balihoo folk the luxury of walking most everywhere: to lunch, to run errands, to meet clients, to grab supplies, and to stake out a happy hour table.  Those who live nearby are rewarded for exchanging their parking passes for a spot on the bike racks.
5. Eat local: No drive-thru bags here.  Balihoo employees are loyal patrons of restaurants, grocers, and farmers markets that offer locally grown products.
6. Take the bus: Don't let two dozen of your closest friends drive 175 miles to the nearest casino; charter a bus and ride together.  Alex and Brian can elaborate.

*Please consider the environment before you print this awesome blog post.

Unless you're new to Earth, recently thawed from a cryogenic slumber, or a harried Balihoo employee with limited social interaction, you've probably heard of Tiger Woods.  You've probably also been bombarded of late by the relentless coverage of Tiger's personal and professional dealings.  And whether you know or care an iota about the Masters and its gravity, you almost certainly know that Tiger returned to professional golf in last week's tournament.

In advance of Thursday's first round, Tiger's most prominent sponsor, Nike Golf, took the public by surprise with a stark acknowledgment of all that lead to that moment.  Their television ad, featuring voice-over from Tiger's late father and mentor, is contrastingly bare in imagery and complex in meaning. Viewers are brought uncomfortably close - physically and emotionally - to Tiger and his apparent remorse.  The ad has been met with predictably strong, if mixed, reviews.



If Tiger was a polarizing figure before, he's surely pitched a wedge into a new echelon of
public opinion now (pun reluctantly intended).  Love golf or hate it, most everyone has an opinion about Tiger Woods these days - and that opinion may have nothing at all to do with golf itself.  Even if much of the response is negative, the recent media frenzy has ensured that he is a topic of conversation, even among those who couldn't care less about his career.

Enter Nike, a smart and confident retailer with considerable marketing swagger.  When other prominent sponsors - well within their rights - chose to walk away from Tiger, Nike opted to remain.  When Tiger selected the Masters to make his much-anticipated return, Nike made another bold choice: to recognize the issue, establish their position, and engage the public.  Rather than remain silent and wait for questions or criticism, Nike went on the offensive; they chose the context for the inevitable conversation.

Those Nike folks are no dummies.  With so much of the world watching, the timing was ideal to capitalize on their relationship with Tiger; the critical component, and biggest risk, would be the message.  The key was for Nike to distinguish their endorsement of Tiger from an endorsement of his actions; this commercial quietly accomplishes exactly that.

Fan or critic, odds are that you'll have an emotional reaction to this campaign.  The public's general approval or disapproval of the ad, or of Tiger himself, is largely irrelevant in comparison to their viewership, their discussion, their Tweets, and their dialog in response.  It's a risk many advertisers would shun, and in fact many did; Nike manages to pull it off beautifully.

As advertisers, we should all show Nike's poise in the face of possibility.  A strong, well-defined brand will push the limits without sacrificing themselves or risking their audience.  Remember, Nike isn't out to make you like Tiger - they're out to make sure you keep talking about him.  And as you talk, kindly conjure their flickering logo in the back of your mind.   

Here at Balihoo, we work with several clients whose local advertising strategies are heavily print-focused.  When deploying our solution for a new client, Balihoo's crack design team goes to great lengths to ensure that our print ad builder incorporates the appropriate fonts for the brand we're servicing.  Though this process can be laborious, it speaks to the core of our offering as a business; fonts are a critical brand component, one that sets the tone for a company's local advertising efforts.

It's no accident that we choose Cambria for business reports and Lucida Calligraphy for Christmas cards.  Like any creative element, fonts provide context for our messages; they give your written voice the timbre that readers "hear" as they process your message.  Bold, blocky letters sound aggressive; round, uneven letters sound youthful; ornate, elongated letters sound luxurious. 

Think of your font as the theme song in the background of your opening scene print ad.

Given this importance, you can imagine my dismay when a prior blog post was somehow published in a clunky, disagreeable Calibri.  I personally prefer a more subtle Arial, but would settle for a classic Times New Roman.  When limited patience and knowledge of the blog platform prevented me from quickly making a change, I lost sight of my goal and broke the cardinal rule of messaging: I shrugged my shoulders and sent it into the world, knowing it didn't quite reflect what I hoped to communicate.

The devil is in the details, and this is overwhelmingly true for a local advertiser.  Your words inherently invite scrutiny - not just what they say, but when, where, why, and how they're said.  For a franchise organization seeking national consistency, a state-of-the-art print ad builder ensures that every detail is communicated exactly as you intend. 

Your font is one subtle detail of many that create and preserve your brand.  Balihoo's ad builder software and professional support ensure that the message delivered is the message intended. 

Don't let your Courier degrade into Wingdings.  Contact us for a consultation.